Chapter 59: Within the Heavenly Desolation Valley

Tong Jin had been invited to the main hall of the Meng family early in the morning, and by now everyone had already arrived. Meng Yu sat upright with a dignified posture, and on his left and right sides sat one person each. The person on the left was someone Tong Jin had caught a glimpse of when he first entered the Meng estate—the one who bore a striking thirty percent resemblance to Meng Yu. On the other side sat an older man with his eyes half-closed, revealing not the slightest ripple of emotion.

"Young Friend Tong has arrived," Meng Yu said, greeting him as Tong Jin stepped into the hall. "Come, let me introduce you." With that, he turned his head to the left. "This is my younger paternal cousin, Meng Xuan." Meng Xuan nodded slightly toward Tong Jin. Then Meng Yu turned to the right. "This is my paternal uncle, as well as an elder of our Meng family, Elder Meng Renzhong." Upon hearing this, Meng Renzhong opened his half-closed eyes and cast a measuring glance at Tong Jin.

Tong Jin stepped forward to pay his respects before taking the only vacant seat on one side of the hall. Seated beside him were Xie Peng and Xing Ye. Xie Peng nodded and smiled as a greeting, while Xing Ye acted as though he had not seen him at all, continuing to sip his tea indifferently.

Directly opposite Tong Jin sat Meng Yuerou, who was watching him with a faint smile. Today, she was dressed in tight martial attire that accentuated her exquisite figure, with a long whip tucked into her waist. Lacking a touch of gentleness, she instead exuded an air of heroic vigor.

At this moment, Meng Yu, seated in the primary chair, spoke up. "Today is the day appointed for our Meng family's duel with the Gu family. Our Meng family has always kept a low profile, but Gu Ming's seating arrangement for the Gu family this time was simply too overbearing. Therefore, I have specially invited my close friend Xing Cang's two talented disciples, Worthy Nephew Xie Peng and Worthy Nephew Xing Ye, as well as Worthy Nephew Tong Jin, who has traveled from afar, to counter the battle array set up by the Gu family."

At this point, Meng Yu paused, rose slightly from his seat to nod toward the three younger juniors, and continued, "The rule agreed upon by both families for this duel is that no lives are to be taken. However, as the three of you already know, we cannot fully ascertain the true strength of the three Poison Sect members invited by the Gu family. Still, I trust that the three of you juniors will surely help our Meng family weather this crisis."

Meng Yu looked at the three of them with hopeful eyes. Xing Ye stood up and said, "Senior Meng, do not worry. Before we set out, our master gave us strict orders: if we are defeated, the two of us need not bother returning. We will definitely make those three disciples of Ba Xun pay dearly!" As he spoke, Xing Ye narrowed his eyes slightly, radiating waves of sharp, murderous intent.

Compared to Xing Ye, the steady Xie Peng merely nodded heavily, while Tong Jin, still possessing the appearance of a youth, sat composedly beside them, a sight that brought a subtle amusement to onlookers.

"Good! Since that is the case, let us depart for Desolate Heaven Valley!" Meng Yu wasted no more words and immediately led the group out.

The number of people heading to the duel site was quite small. Meng Yu, Meng Xuan, and Meng Renzhong led the team, which included the three participants—Tong Jin, Xie Peng, and Xing Ye—along with the siblings Meng Yuerou and Meng Xingfan.

As they hurried along, with the scenery on both sides continuously shifting, they soon arrived at Desolate Heaven Valley. True to its name, the moment they stepped inside, a fierce, howling gale assaulted them head-on. Everyone relied on their own abilities to resist the razor-sharp wind blades as they pushed forward. After covering a distance of a full half-li, which took them a solid half-hour to traverse, they finally reached the center of the valley.

This Desolate Heaven Valley was surprisingly as calm as stagnant water. Not a single blade of grass grew here, and an eerie, gloomy aura hung over the place, as if the sunlight had never once penetrated its depths.

"Three worthy nephews, this is the site of your duel today. There is only one exit to this valley, which is the fierce wind path we just traversed. The reason I chose this place is because I anticipated that the Gu family would resort to seeking help from the Poison Sect." Meng Yu specifically looked at Tong Jin as he added, "You all felt the violent winds along the way just now. The Poison Sect excels in venomous insect secret arts. If you find yourselves outmatched during the fight, simply retreat into the fierce winds, and surely that will block those tiny venomous insects."

Hearing this, Tong Jin nodded, thinking to himself that this was indeed a sound strategy. Coming through earlier, he had to mobilize his inner energy to protect his body just to keep his robes pristine upon reaching this place. If alien insects were to fly directly into that gale, they would likely be blown away by the fierce winds in an instant.

Xing Ye glanced sideways at Tong Jin and sneered, "Kid, if the situation looks bad later on, feel free to hide in the gale. If you get hurt by the Poison Sect's venomous creatures and end up having to grovel for an antidote, wouldn't that completely shame the reputation of us two brothers?"

Xing Ye's words elicited no outward reaction from Xie Peng, who simply smiled with a keen sense of amusement as he looked at Tong Jin.

Meng Yuerou, however, furrowed her brows, stepped forward, and said, "Tong Jin will never disgrace our Meng family." She then turned her head and gazed affectionately at Tong Jin, who wore a helpless expression.

Seeing Meng Yuerou show such protectiveness toward Tong Jin, a wave of dark fury surged within Xing Ye. He grit his teeth in secret and managed to swallow his anger.

Tong Jin had no desire to fall out with those two at the moment, especially since he was only here to back up Meng Yuerou. With a helpless shake of his head, he said, "The two of you, I, Tong Jin, have no intention of making enemies with anyone. Now that we are all on the same side, the two of you can each choose one opponent later, and leave the remaining one to me."

At these words, Xie Peng frowned, thinking to himself that this was an exceptionally arrogant young man. He exchanged a glance with Xing Ye and fell silent once more. Xing Ye instantly grasped the implication and chuckled inwardly, "Everyone knows that among the three Poison Sect members, Banjue's bred venomous bees are the most terrifying and troublesome. For him to actually have the nerve to let us two brothers pick first, he must be either an utter fool or an absolute idiot."

Right at that moment, human figures flickered indistinctly within the fierce winds, and before long, a dozen figures successively entered the valley.

The most striking feature of the leading figure was a thick, dark birthmark covering a large portion of his face, with a pair of slender, narrow eyes that looked somewhat out of place on his ruggedly contoured features. Though not particularly tall, this man exuded a natural air of authority as he strode straight to the front of the Meng family group.

Behind him walked a lean, withered elder. Beneath his golden robe, his emaciated outline was fully exposed. He leaned on a short, thick cane, and his deeply wrinkled eyes flashed with piercing brilliance as they blinked open and shut. Tong Jin studied this person, feeling a wave of danger radiating from that withered body, and silently concluded that this man was far from simple.

Further behind stood three people side by side, clad in dark red, heavy robes. As Tong Jin's gaze swept over them, Meng Yuerou whispered softly by his ear, "Those three are from the Poison Sect. The one in the middle is Ciren." Hearing this, Tong Jin looked over. The person in the center had a reddish complexion and facial features as sharp and hard as if they had been chiseled from stone. He nodded silently.

"The sharp-faced one on the left is Su Chi." As Meng Yuerou's voice reached him once again, Tong Jin looked and indeed saw that the man on the left had a chin as pointed as an awl, with a similarly flushed complexion. He reasoned that the remaining person must be Banjue, the breeder of the blood bees. At the same time, he narrowed his eyes slightly to look at the person on the right among the trio. A remarkably babyish face came into view. Although this man also shared the same dark-red complexion, the baby face perched atop his seemingly frail frame gave people a strangely approachable feeling.

"The Meng Family Head has arrived quite early!" Gu Ming called out.

Meng Yu did not offer a pleasant expression and sneered instead, "I think the Gu Family Head can dispense with the polite pleasantries. Today, the matter between our two families will be settled right here. If your Gu family loses this match..."

Gu Ming burst into loud laughter, his already narrow eyes squeezing into two thin slits. "Hahaha, Family Head Meng, rest assured. If my Gu family loses this match, I will no longer pursue the hand of the beauty Yuerou." Then his expression turned frosty. "But if your Meng family loses, not only will I come over to take her as my bride, but the betrothal gift will be half of the Meng family's estate!"